Acta Geodaetica et Cartographica Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 54 ›› Issue (11): 1954-1967.doi: 10.11947/j.AGCS.2025.20250277

• Geodesy and Navigation • Previous Articles    

UAV-borne repeat-pass InSAR data processing method considering motion error characteristics

Wei PENG1(), Jing YANG1, Haiqiang FU2, Jianjun ZHU2(), Dong ZENG2   

  1. 1.School of Aeronautical Engineering, Changsha University of Science & Technology, Changsha 410114, China
    2.School of Geosciences and Info-Physics, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
  • Received:2025-07-23 Revised:2025-11-03 Published:2025-12-15
  • Contact: Jianjun ZHU E-mail:pengwei@csust.edu.cn;zjj@csu.edu.cn
  • About author:PENG Wei (1989—), male, PhD, associate professor, majors in UAV-based InSAR. E-mail: pengwei@csust.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    The National Natural Science Fundation of China(42227801);The National Key Research and Development Program of China(2024YFB2605500)

Abstract:

UAV-borne interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) systems exhibit significant advantages of high mobility and high spatial resolution in deformation monitoring along large-scale engineering projects. However, its instability in flight trajectory and attitude easily leads to difficulties in interferometric processing of repeat-pass SAR images. Based on the independently developed X-band fixed-wing vertical take-off and landing UAV-borne interferometric SAR system, this paper addresses the issues of SAR imaging and image registration that cause poor repeat-pass interferometric quality, and proposes a common heading angle fitting SAR imaging and block-wise registration method, which significantly improves interferometric coherence and deformation monitoring capability. Experimental results show that the trajectory control accuracy is better than ±2 m, enabling differential interferometry for all repeat-pass images; the common heading angle fitting SAR imaging method solves the azimuth interferometric fringe problem caused by non-parallel trajectory (spatial baselines), and the block-wise registration method increases coherence from approximately 0.6 to over 0.8. With an image resolution of 0.18×0.18 m, the deformation characteristics of two small-sized simulated settlement plates can be accurately identified, and the differences between interferometric deformation measurements and true values are less than ±2.6 mm (with root mean square errors of 1.2 mm and 1.5 mm, respectively), verifying that the proposed system and methods in this paper have engineering deformation monitoring capability with millimeter-level accuracy.

Key words: UAV-borne SAR, repeat-pass interferometric, deformation measurement, field-based simulation experiment

CLC Number: